Category Archives: My Zine

Going out With a Bang: Final Issue now on Stands!

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Picture 8

The final issue of OPENWIDE volume 12 is on stands now in NCB and the UCC! We’re going out with a bang this year with tons of great articles, student spotlights, poetry, and more. Between those two beautiful covers you’ll find a heartfelt letter from your outgoing FIMSSC executives Jordan Coop and Kelly Mark and an interview with the incoming crew, Jordan Pearson and Steven Wright. You’ll get the low-down on why bar photography as a form of free creative labour sucks, why we need a little of that “FSU” spirit back, Access Copyright, Girl Talk, and way more.

Pick up your physical copy today or read it after the jump:

Continue reading →

A New Machine: New Print Edition now on Stands!

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OPENWIDE February Print CoverOur team is proud to announce that the February print edition of OPENWIDE is now on stands in NCB and UCC!

In this edition, expect to find articles that ask some probing questions about structures of authority, racism on campus, school shootings, Americanization of film, and much more.

Or, here’s your chance to relax at home and read it right here!

A Tale of Two TAs: A Response to “My TA isn’t from FIMS”

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– This article is a response, written by two TAs, to Molly McCracken’s thought-provoking opinion piece for OPENWIDE, “‘My TA Isn’t From FIMS…’ Wait, what!?”

teacher-trainingA Joint Response by Western TAs Siobhan and Atle
Molly McCracken’s provocative opinion piece “‘My MIT TA isn’t from FIMS…’ Wait, what?!” has inspired discussion among and between undergraduates, graduate students and administration, and even outside of FIMS. It is important to address here what is essentially a conflation of issues, which are issues nonetheless. As we often tell our students when it comes to reading texts and events, there’s a lot more going on here than meets the eye, or the ear in this case. Nevertheless, the article is timely and presents an opportunity for TAs to respond, and report particularly on what our union is planning to do to address this shared concern of giving undergraduates a better learning experience. Before addressing the broader criticisms of the article here, we must note MIT 2000 is an isolated case of administrative neglect not directly related to the sort of systemic problems raised by Ms. McCracken. Continue reading →

Let us reintroduce ourselves: We are OPENWIDE

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OPENWIDE

The December issue of the newly renamed OPENWIDE is now on stands. It’s all about change and the many ways we experience it. From music, to alternative anti-capitalist lifestyles, discussions on the USC’s power, “vampire capitalism,” #HurricaneSandy, and more.

Expect to find critical and engaging stories, poetry, and photography in what is possibly our best issue yet!

But don’t take our word for it. Get your own from stands in NCB or UCC, or read it digitally:

“My MIT TA isn’t from FIMS…” Wait, what?!

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Lowering our Standards? Cross-Faculty TAs Impede Learning

One morning this week, I forgot my earphones for the bus ride. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help but listen in on two second-year FIMS students sitting next to me and discussing their courses.

What I heard was disheartening, but not new. It exposed a problem I have seen growing out of control over the time I have gone from a naïve frosh to a slightly more critical, though still naïve, senior.

The students were discussing their final essays for MIT 2000. They began to complain, not about #firstworldproblems, but about a real issue: their Teaching Assistants’ inability to help them. Continue reading →

Your Best Student Experience: A Call to Action

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What exactly is the “Best Student Experience” we’ve all heard so much about since we first set foot on Western’s campus?

Perhaps there’s no need to bother with the question, since the university’s administration has defined it for us in a document titled “Institutional Vision, Proposed Mandate Statement and Priority Objectives” – a paper that formally kicked off the process of creating a Strategic Mandate Agreement for the future. Moreover, Western administration took it upon itself to do this with very little student input. The little input they sought amounted to a few meetings with the USC president and vice-president (whose recommendations didn’t come from direct Western student involvement but rather the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance’s discussion paper), and limited interaction with higher-ups in Western’s Senate and Board of Governors. A group of us, Western students all, have decided this doesn’t sit well with us and so we’re doing something about it. Continue reading →

Ch-ch-ch-Changes: Calling all Photographers!

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The December issue of Volume 12 of the (soon to be re-named) mitZine is in the works and we would like to feature your work. “Changes” is the theme of this issue, and we are looking for submissions that incorporate it in a creative way.

So grab your camera and show us what you’ve got! The submission deadline is November 20.

The October issue: Selling Out.

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The rumours are true: the October issue is Selling Out. But you can get it for free on stands in NCB and the UCC now!

This issue, titled Selling Out: Your Education and the Bottom Line, digs into the commercialization of education, from Western’s recent re-branding campaign to the residence construction boom, and what it means for us.

Read more and check out the issue after the jump. Continue reading →

Your Frosh Issue is Now on Stands!

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The Frosh issue of Volume 12 of the mitZine is now on stands and available to everyone! We have received some great preliminary feedback, but we want you to add your voice, too.

Get your copy from stands in NCB or UCC. Heck, get two and share one with your housemates.

Have a read and tell us what you think: email us (check the About page for addresses), “Like” our page on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

Read the issue after the jump. Continue reading →

Your O-Week, Your Zine

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Believe it or not, peeps, O-Week 2012 is just around the corner! The Frosh issue of your mitZine is at the printer’s, and exciting new ideas are in the works for this site.

Are you ready for it?

Follow #myoweek on Twitter, share your experiences, post your photos and videos, send us your memes, etcetera. We will re-tweet them and recap the highlights here on the blog using Storify.

Are you excited? ‘Cause we are! The mitZine is getting more connected than ever before, and we can’t WAIT to hear from you!

Join the conversation and add your voice online: